Colonial Jewelers

Melanie and Nicholas met while attending the University of Maryland at College Park through a mutual friend, but found out later they knew many of the same people. “We found out through stories from growing up that we had been at the same events and probably met a long time ago like sitting a table away from each other at prom. We have many stories where we crossed paths, but never actually knew it until recently.”

In the fall of 2017, the couple headed to the Monocacy Aqueduct to take fall photos with their best friends. “After about 10 minutes into taking photos, Nick got down on one knee and proposed.”

150 guests including four bridesmaids and four groomsmen attended their outdoor nuptials. “The weather was perfect and surprisingly nice out for an outdoor ceremony in mid-November. Our wedding officiant was a family member, who was hilarious and perfect for the task.”

The couple chose navy, green, and gold for their wedding decor. “Our whole wedding day was about relaxing and enjoying yourself. The cake cutting including both of us getting cake shoved lovingly into each other’s face and the whole night involved dancing and loving those around us.”

Melanie is a technical trainer for Charles River Laboratories. Nick is a career firefighter for Montgomery County. The couple currently lives in Frederick.

Kimberly and William met during our bar trivia at Champions in Frederick. “When I arrived that night, I found out that Kim had recently joined our team through mutual friends. Over the next few weeks, we continued to meet up every Thursday for trivia, where I began to learn more about Kim. Eventually, we started to get together throughout the week for runs through Baker Park and fitness classes at our local gym.”

William proposed during a weekend getaway to Charlottesville. “When we finally got to our house for the weekend, I gave my pocket one last pat before getting out of the car. As my heart started to race, I asked Kim if she’d like to check out the gazebo before heading into the house. Once Kim turned away from me, I quickly got down on one knee.”

120 guests joined the couple for their September nuptials, including five bridesmaids and seven groomsmen. The had readings by each of their sisters during the indoor ceremony at McClintock Distilling.

“We spend a lot of time in downtown Frederick and McClintock is a gorgeous venue. We loved the industrial, yet rustic feel and the staff was awesome to work with. We had a make your own sundae bar for dessert.”

William is a mechanical engineer and Kimberly is a quality assurance specialist. They currently reside in Frederick.

Bradley and Cathleen met in July of 2010 through a mutual friend. “We started dating three months later. We have been together for eight years this past September.”

“Bradley called me and asked if I wanted lunch from Chik-Fil-a since I was harvesting crops all day. So he stopped by the field on his way home to bring me food. He rode around with me while I finished up the farm I was at and helped me move the combine to another farm to keep harvesting. By this time it was starting to get dark and I was running low on fuel. He insisted I stop combining for the evening so he could fill my fuel tank up. While we were waiting on the tank to fill up he got down on one knee and asked me if I would marry him.”

250 guests were in attendance for their outdoor August nuptials including five bridesmaids and four groomsmen. “ We got married in the middle of the field next to our house across from my parent’s farm overlooking the farm and other fields. The scenery was perfect. The arbor was borrowed from my sister’s wedding that they had made. My talented mother in law also made entryway doors for the entrance of the ceremony. The sunset was beautiful and a hot air balloon appeared just in time for our pictures after the ceremony.”

Bradley works for his parents at Wastler & Son, Inc. as a foreman. Cathleen works for her parents on their dairy farm. They currently reside in Union Bridge.

Kelsey and Nick met at the Great Frederick Fair 11 years ago through a mutual friend. “We started talking a year later after we ran into each other. We have been together for ten years now.”

Nick proposed at their home in 2017. “He proposed after dinner outside during a sunset over the mountains right off of our porch with our puppy and my family to witness. That evening we made so many phone calls to let our family and friends know we were engaged. Nick’s family along with some friends came over to celebrate.”

140 guests were in attendance for their June nuptials, including five bridesmaids, five groomsmen, and a flower girl at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in Walkersville, where Kelsey attended as a child. “The church was designed by my uncle who is an architect and my family has been parishioners from the start. We had hydrangea flowers lining the aisle that my mom walked me down.” The couple was married on the same day Kelsey’s maternal grandparents were wed 56 years before.

Nick and Kelsey had some fun moments at their Holly Hills reception. “Nick’s brother is an auctioneer and he auctioned off a dance with the bride during the reception. Nick ‘shot’ the garter to the guys behind him and we all were looking around to see who caught it when someone pointed out that it had got stuck on the ceiling. The guys hoisted up the boyfriend of the girl who caught the bouquet to the garter.”

Kelsey is a dental assistant and Nick is in sales. They currently reside in Creagerstown.

Heather and Clint met at a game night through a mutual friend. “It started with him offering me one of his craft beers and ended with him giving me a foot rub. We have been together for 4 and a half years.”Clint proposed on an anniversary trip to Vermont. “On the second morning of our trip, Clint proposed to me with breakfast in bed. He knew I did not want a public proposal, so this was perfect.”

107 guests were in attendance for their June nuptials, including six bridesmaids and six groomsmen. “We wanted a short, sweet, and to the point ceremony. We worked with our officiant to make sure everything we wanted to be said would be said and it turned out exactly how we wanted. The weather forecast was threatening thunderstorms in the afternoon so we moved the ceremony to under the pavilion, just to be on the safe side. Fortunately, it did not rain, so even though the ceremony was under the pavilion, we were able to take pictures outside overlooking the vineyards and in between the vines. The overcast was perfect for our pictures and we even got a beautiful sunset.”

The couple chose a color palette of light pinks with white and burgundy accents for their wedding decor. “Our day was unique because we incorporated music from our favorite films throughout the day – the girls and I walked down the aisle to Lord of the Rings music, our recessional was Throne Room from Star Wars – and we were announced during the reception by walking under Light Sabers given to the wedding party.”

Clint is a chemistry and physics high school teacher. Heather is a full-time pharmacy school student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. They currently reside in Frederick.

First Dance: The Wonder of You – Conor O’BrienHoneymoon: Montego Bay, Jamaica

Samantha and Matt met through a mutual friend and dated for three years before Matt proposed to Sam in their apartment one night in February. “She was at work, and I had just picked up the ring from the jewelers. I bought some roses, put the ring inside one of them, and left them by the bed and waited for her to come home. When she got home from work I obviously pretended like nothing was different. I waited for her to go in the bedroom, then followed behind to see her reaction. She was speechless, and I took the ring and formally proposed to her.”

95 guests were in attendance for their summer ceremony at All Saints Episcopal Church in Downtown Frederick, including eight bridal party members. “We had a very traditional wedding ceremony- bridesmaids and groomsmen processing into smiling guests, the flower girl dropping a few petals before dumping the entire basket, a crying baby, the whole nine yards.”

The couple chose a color palette of blue and yellow for their wedding day.When asked why they chose to have their wedding in Frederick- “A great thing about Frederick is that everything you need for a wedding can be found here without a lot of searching. Downtown has almost everything you could need. If it isn’t downtown, it won’t be hard to find in the surrounding areas.”

Matthew is an FCPS Teacher and Samantha is an FCBIA Communications Specialist. They currently reside in Brunswick, Maryland.First Dance: Jason Mraz, I Won’t Give Up

Kathryn and Andrew met Downtown Frederick at Wags in November of 2014. “We both went to the same high school and college but neither of us knew each other then. We knew a lot of the same people and hit it off immediately,” shared Kathryn. Andrew invited Kat to his family tailgate the next day and, “We’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since.”

Kathryn and Andrew had 200 guests in attendance, including five bridesmaids and five groomsmen at their outdoor ceremony in April at Stone Manor Country Club. Andrew’s Uncle was their officiant. “We worked with him to put together a simple but meaningful ceremony. We wrote our vows together and both said the same words as our promise to each other.”The couple chose a wedding palette of neutral colors for their decor. “We tried to pull in different elements from each our cultures. We had a special sign on the bar that said ‘cheers’ in multiple languages of our origin. We did two pretty epic Greek Dances. A local Bluegrass Band, Israel Creek, played for our Ceremony and Cocktail hour. They were awesome and really kicked off the energy and atmosphere from when guests arrived.”

In lieu of favors, the couple elected to make a donation to the Jessica Lee Murphy Scholarship Fund.Kathryn is a Project Manager and Andrew is a contractor. They currently reside in Frederick.

In 2015 Samantha and Collin went on a trip to a mutual friend’s cabin in the mountains. “We had our first kiss there, then started officially dating a few weeks later.”

Collin proposed to Samantha in February 2017 during a walk in Downtown Frederick. “We stopped on the way to dinner to buy some Girl Scout cookies. Collin made sure to put the cookies down before he proposed.”

120 guests were in attendance for their January wedding, including five bridesmaids and five groomsmen. The ceremony was held at Samantha’s family church, St. Mary’s Church and Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Barnesville, MD. “It meant a lot to have our families there to share and take part in the ceremony.”

The couple chose a color palette of steel blue, blush pink, and navy for their wedding decor. When asked why they chose their reception venue, Samantha shared, “We loved Holly Hills because it was a full-service venue. We knew that they would be there to help our vision come to life.”Samantha is a teacher and Collin is a graphic designer. They currently reside in New Market.

Theresa and Alexander met at work nearly four years ago. “Our friends encouraged us to get to know one another and we instantly hit it off,” shared Theresa.

Alexander had slipped off in January 2016 to secretly pick up Theresa’s engagement ring. “He had told both of our families that his plan was to hold onto the ring and propose in a couple of months. He came home that day and didn’t even make it through the night. He proposed to me while we were just hanging out around the house – he turned one of the most ordinary of nights into one of the greatest memories of my life. It was simply perfect to me.”

The couple had 120 guests in attendance for their indoor ceremony at Linganore Winecellars, including three bridesmaids and two best men. “Something that we did differently was having a cocktail hour before the ceremony! We wanted the opportunity to say hello to everyone and thank them for joining us before we said, ‘I do.’”

Theresa and Alexander chose a “rustic” theme with navy blue, ivory, green, and tan as their primary colors. “Our venue, Linganore Winecellars, was simply beautiful and has so much character. We were so impressed by the incredible fall foliage the day of the wedding – the colors were absolutely amazing.”

Both Theresa and Alexander work for the federal government. They currently reside in Sykesville.

Brennan’s proposal began when he designed and made a plate at I Made This in Frederick. The plate said, “Will You Marry Me?” along with a drawing of the two of the couple. The two went out to dinner at The Wine Kitchen where Brennan got down on one knee with an appetizer on the handmade plate.

The couple had 185 guests in attendance at their indoor St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church ceremony in Libertytown. The couple had eight bridesmaids, two junior bridesmaids, and eight groomsmen. “Brennan wore a giant grin on his face throughout the entire ceremony while I was flooded with happy tears. Our love for each other never felt so strong and we were thrilled to have all of our closest family and friends there to witness it.”

The couple chose a color palette of blush and navy for their decor. When asked about what was their favorite part of wedding planning, Kathy mentioned she really enjoyed, “working as a team to incorporate both of our personalities into our special day.”

Kathy’s wedding dress was quite special. “My best friend and bridesmaid designed and made my gorgeous convertible wedding gown. I was able to wear one wedding dress that has three various looks. It was so special to have my childhood friend have such a huge role in our special day and I loved wearing my wedding dress.”

Kathy and Brennan knew they wanted to get married at Walker’s Overlook after a tour. “We love the farmhouse and the open feel of the entire place. It proved to be an amazing venue and allowed for us to have a great dance party, photo booth, corn hole games, and sunset views for our guests. Such a beautiful setting.”

Kathy is a physician assistant at WellSpan Health and Brennan is a financial planner at Turning Point Financial. They currently reside in Frederick.

After spending an afternoon at Big Cork Vineyards relaxing, Erin and Alex knew this was the perfect venue for their wedding. “Big Cork’s atmosphere is mesmerizing, it’s nestled up on top of the hill and when you walk in you forget where you are. The venue lends itself to almost any type of decorations and we knew we could let it speak for itself and wouldn’t need to do much.”

Erin and Alex had planned for an outdoor ceremony, but with rain in the forecast, they decided to hold their intimate ceremony in the production room at Big Cork. “We completed a wine box ceremony sealing love letters written to each other in the box. We also wrote our own vows and were able to pick each of our ceremony readings and tailor it to our personalities.”“We had wine barrels at the start of the aisle with flower arrangements and a wine barrel at the top of the aisle that help the Wine Box for our ceremony.” The aisle was lined with mason jar arrangements and rose petals scattered by their three flower girls. The couple opted to not have a bridal party. 60 guests were in attendance.

Family members helped decorate the space, including Erin’s aunt who made her bouquet, the flower arrangements and the ceremony arch. The couple opted for personalized stemless wine glasses as a wedding favor.

Erin is a teacher and Alex is an executive assistant. They reside in Frederick.

Hilary spent weeks making videos with her sister. On the day of the proposal, Hilary left work early hoping to buy flowers and champagne to round out the proposal. On her drive home Jacquie called her to let her know that she was leaving work early. Hilary tried to get Jacquie to stop at the store on the way home to buy some time, but she didn’t bite. Hilary raced home with minutes to spare to set up the video. Jacquie came home to a note on the door that said “Come in and sit down and relax.” A note on the laptop said, “hit play.” The video was a compilation of clips with Hilary holding posters that read the lyrics to songs that played. At the end Hilary came out of the bedroom and got down on one knee and proposed. A few months later Hilary woke up to the dogs running into the bedroom and jumping on her per usual. On Ben’s collar was a ring box. Inside was the beautiful ring Jacquie had designed.

When Hilary and Jacquie decided to have a wedding, they knew it would center around Frederick. “We love downtown Frederick. We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful city and spend the day outside with our closest family and friends and our two dogs,” Jacquie said.

The couple did a “first look” at the Swinging Bridge in Baker Park and took photos as wife and wife at Baker Park after the ceremony.

28 guests plus their two dogs attended the ceremony. The wedding and reception did not have a specific theme, but the couple utilized a yellow and white palette throughout their day, highlighted by the use of sunflowers and Black-eyed Susans. The couple and their guests enjoyed a four course meal at Volt.

Jacquie is a Financial Consultant at Wells Fargo in Frederick, MD and Hilary is a Paralegal at Herman & Whiteaker, LLC in Bethesda. They reside in Downtown Frederick.

How they met: through mutual friends

Honeymoon: Italy

Wedding Advice: “If you’re on a budget there are some amazing places that cost little to nothing. You just need to make sure to reserve the spots. Frederick is a great place to support local business.”

“We wanted to incorporate elements of the distillery, like the beautiful metallic stills, into the shoot. A speak easy theme was the perfect fit, combining 1920s to a modern wedding. The copper and silver stills were a major inspiration that we carried through to the two toned engagement and wedding rings from Colonial Jewelers,” said Katie of Rose Gold Events & Styling.

Allison Dee Calligraphy fashioned quotes based on the modern speakeasy theme including “A little party never killed nobody” and “of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine”.

The couple had some fun posing on the bar with a vintage cocktail shaker while sampling the spirits from McClintock.

Even with many industrial elements at McClintock Distilling, like brick and metal, they wanted the inspiration photo session to be romantic. Kelly Shore of Petals by the Shore constructed a ceremony arch using McClintock’s barrels, curly willow, and cherry blossom branches. The soft pinks and mauves in the bridal bouquet played off the bride’s untraditional Gatsby-inspired beaded dress complete with an perfectly undone updo and lush lashes by JKW Beauty. The icing on the cake (literally!) was the two layer dessert that included gold leaf and sugar flowers by Cakes to Die For.

The bride’s words during her toast sum up this wedding pretty well: “We feel like the luckiest old farts on the planet.” And if you were a witness to their wedding, you’d believe it.

Marj and Phil’s September wedding wasn’t an all day elaborate affair. What it was: elegant, full of meaningful details, and a union of two families.

Marj, a retired teacher and Phil a financial advisor, re-met in 2014. “We both had just come off very difficult summers. I had finished radiation for breast cancer, he had lost his wife. The perfect storm for two depressed people… we knew each other peripherally for quite a few years, coming from the same hometown, Hanover PA, and seeing each other at Frederick events. We realized we were very compatible instantly….and quickly became a couple.”

50 guests attended their ceremony at Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ in downtown Frederick. The bride’s dear friend, Barbara Kershner Daniel, officiated the ceremony. The couple’s children made up the bridal party.

Guests made their way around the corner to the reception at Reina, and had drinks in the courtyard while the couple took family photographs.

The color palette of navy blue, orange and gold set the done for a vibrant and spirited reception at one of their favorite downtown restaurants.

The bride’s daughter, a professional singer, sang at the intimate reception before toasts and dessert.

Something funny that happened: “Phil wrote a lovely toast to me, but left it at home. Everyone knows that Phil was born to be a MC so it was funny, poignant, and perfect.”

What I loved most about our wedding: “The happiness that everyone shared. It’s rare for two people of our generation to find this love and joy and companionship, and I think our families and friends shared in our emotions.”

About planning the wedding: “The planning of the wedding and reception was especially meaningful since we both have so many connections in Frederick and we enjoyed using the local downtown vendors. Our ceremony was tailored for us but used the traditional matrimonial service of my church.”